TARGETED ACCESSIBILITY FUND OFNEW YORK, INC.

4 TOWER PLACE, 2ND FLOOR, ALBANY, NEW YORK 12203

TELEPHONE: 518-443-2808 FAX: 518-443-2809

Advisory Board

Meeting Minutes

August 9, 2016

Board Members Present:Members present were Gregg Collar, (Chairman) Ann Kowalczyk (Secretary/Treasurer) and Richard Berkley. Members present via conference circuit were Cheryl Hamill (Vice President), Diane Browning, Shana Macey, Robert Sullivan and Jan Vandecarr. Others Present:Angelo Rella(TAF Administrator), Mary Goralski (TAF Senior Analyst)and David Cramer(NYPSC).

  1. Gregg Collar, Chairperson, called the meeting to order and took a roll call. A quorum was present and the meeting proceeded.
  1. The Board reviewed the minutes of the May 17,2016 Board meeting. Hearing no changes, a motion was made by Richard Berkleyand seconded byAnn Kowalczyk to adopt the minutes as presented. The motion was approved by the Board unanimously.
  1. Angelo provided a TAF Administrative Expense Summary Report for the months of April 2016 through June2016. He told the Board that the Treasurer, Ann Kowalczyk, hadreviewedthe summary earlier and had no questions. Year to date, as of June, TAF is around 2% above budget. This might be reduced in the coming months as more time is allocated by staff to the NY State Universal Service Fund.A motion was made by Ann Kowalczykand seconded byRichard Berkley to approve the expense reports as presented. The motion was approved by the Board unanimously.
  1. Angelo provided a TAF status report. The April 2016 throughJune 2016 Monthly Assessment Summaries were presented. Angelo provided an explanation of these reports. The number of companies participating in TAF has decreased as compared to prior years. Some companies have merged, gone out of business or gone below the assessable revenue threshold for TAF participation. Gregg Collar requested a chart that traced the number of companies reporting to TAF since its inception. Angelo indicated that the Board would have that chart prior to the next Board meeting. A motion was made by Cheryl Hamill and seconded by Richard Berkleyto approve the reports as presented. The motion was approved by the Board unanimously.
  1. Angelo gave an update on the TRS Contract Renewal. Sprint’s contract expires on June 30, 2017. Sprint has requested an extension for a period of three years, as per the original agreement, and has proposed new rates. Angelo has been working with the Ad Hoc Committee to come up with a counter proposal. Once Sprint and the TAF Administrator reach an agreement, the agreement will be brought to the TAF Board for approval. If the Board approves the agreement it will be reported to the NYPSC for its consideration. Board members must sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to reviewing this proposal and some Board members may need to recuse themselves due to conflicts. A special conference call may be held with the Board in order to review the proposal.
  1. Angelo gave an update on Caption Telephone. There were 1003 landline Captel phones in use at the end of June 2016 as compared to1032 in March.
  1. Mary Goralski gave an update on Revenues, Costs and Assessment Ratio estimates and historical trends. Revenues continue to decline. E911 costs are holding fairly steady.TRS costs are declining and Lifeline costs are declining so much that they are less than E911 costs now.Assessment ratios held fairly steady this quarter.
  1. Angelo gave an update on the NY State Universal Service Fund.The Fund is currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2016. There isa Proceeding at the NY PSC with a proposed settlement agreement which would extend the Fund another four years. The NYSUSF needs one more billing in 2016 in order to cover all distributions through the end of the year. We discussed how some companies, per the Order establishing the NYSUSF, put a pass-through charge to their end user customers to recover the amount paid into the NYSUSF.
  1. David Cramer gave a NY Public Service Commission Update. The NYSUSF Settlement agreement is currently being reviewed by the Administrative Law Judge.Chazy and Westport have a mini-rate case before the NY PSC at this time to potentially draw from the NYSUSF.
  1. The next regularlyscheduled Board meeting will be on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 4 Tower Place, 2nd Floor, Albany,NY in the TAF of NY Conference Room. Start time will be 11AM. There will be an election of officers at this meeting.
  1. There being no other business, Cheryl Hamill made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Richard Berkley and approved unanimously by the Board.